Clerical vestment



1|.. DlcKMAN ET AL peg 14, 1937.

CLERICAL- VESTMENT Filed March 2, 1956 INVENTORS.

s. MM n MM m KK m En E k m a MQ. M wm Patented Dec. 1.4, 1937 PATENT OFFICE CLERICAL VESTMEN T Lawrence Dickman and George Dickman, Covington, Ky.

, Application March 2,

'l Claims.

"Our invention relates to clerical garments, and more particularly to that class of clerical garments known as rabbi Vests. Generally the apparel of a minister, especially of the Catholic and Episcopal faiths, includes a soft shirt with which is worn a stiff or semi-stiff upstanding collar having no tabs or wings. Over this may be worn a 'clerical vest, which is usually made of ra heavy dark material, and having an upstanding portion l0" around the neck so as to cover the collar except for a narrow white border. A vest of this type will button all the way up the front to the neck. There are some objections to this type of dress, among which are the fact that the clerical vest is heavy and usually too warm for summer wear or for ordinary Wear in warm climates, and also the fact that the upstanding collar portion of the vest tends to creep up or down in accordance with the motions of the wearer, so that it never remains in neat adjustment, showing a white collar margin which is even all the way around the neck.

Another type of clericaldress includes instead of the clerical vest, what is known as a rabbi vest. This consists of a piece of black cloth of light material, shaped somewhat like a bib, and large enough so that when an ordinary blackvest is worn with it, the White shirt front does not show. This rabbi vest is usually provided with an upstanding portion which is adapted to be tucked upwardly into the clerical collar, either behind in the case of a single ply collar, or between the folds thereof in the case of a folded collar, which serves to keep it in its operative position. This form of apparel is much cooler and more comfortable than the rst type mentioned above, although it is considered less formal than the clerical vest proper, because the rabbi vest does not have an upstanding black portion to cover the white collar, as in the clerical vest.

With the above situation in mind, it is an object of our invention to provide an article of apparel for the clergy, which will combine the formality of the clerical vest with the comfort and coolness of the rabbi vest. Y

It is another object of our invention to provide a garment as above suggested, which will at all times maintain a neat appearance, and in which the margin of white clerical collar which is permitted to show above the black, is maintained at a constant width all the way around the neck, regardless of the motions of the wearer.

Further it is our object to provide such a garment which is cheap and simple of manufacture, so as to be readily available to the clergy as a Whole.

1966, serial No. 66,526

These and other objects of our invention which will be set forth hereinafter will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, we accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts, of which we shall now describe a preferred embodiment. Reference is now made to the drawing which forms a part hereof andvin Which:-

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the upperrportion of our novel rabbi vest.

Figure 2 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1, showing the vest in connection with' a clerical collar.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional View on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, showing the construction.

Brieiiy in the practice of our invention, we provide a garment as shown in Figure 1, having the bosom portion I which is` adapted to cover the shirt front at the place where it would show above the V-shaped opening of an ordinary vest. This bosom portion is provided with an upstanding partial neckband 2 comprising cardboard or other stiff material covered with the cloth ofthe vest as indicated at 2a. The conventional rabbi vest, upon which our invention is an improvement consists of just the two above mentioned portions.

In conformity with our invention, however, we provide an additional upstandinng portion 4 of stiff material covered with cloth as at 4a'. The portion 4 is adapted to encircle the clerical collar which is indicated at 5, and is provided with holes 6 for attachment of the collar button 1. The portion 4 may be notched as at I2 to further simulate the clerical vest. The collar shown is of the folded type, but the novel garment may be worn as effectively with a plain or non-folded type of collar.

Referring now to Figure 3 for an explanation of the construction, we may, for example, prepare the cardboard portion 4, cut to proper size, cover it with cloth as at da and secure it with a line of stitching 8. We may then prepare the cardboard portion 2, cut to proper size, cover it with cloth as at 211i, and secure the whole to the bosom portion l by a row of stitching 9. We may then secure the two completed portions together by a row of stitching l0. It will be seen in Figure 3, that by virtue of the fact that there are six thicknesses of cloth between the two cardboard portions, which are themselves covered by one thickness of cloth each on their adjacent faces, the upstanding portions will be spaced apart by four thicknesses of cloth. This spacing is suicient to permit entry between the portions 2 and 4 of the outer portion of the collar 5, and is sufficiently tight to pinch and rmly hold the collar portion in place.

It is therefore apparent that by virtue of the above explained construction, the portion 4 will always remain in place with respect to the collar 5, to which it is fastened both frictionally and by means of the collar button 1, and that there will always be a constant margin of the collar visible, as indicated in Figure 2 at l l. It will also be clear that the described garment will give the appearance of a clerical vest, without subjecting the wearer to the discomforts thereof. If desired, the portion l may be made larger and wider, and provided with tie members, as is well known in the art, to go around the back of the wearer, whereby the necessity of wearing any kind of vest at all is obviated. 'Ifhe bosom portion vI would then have somewhat the appearance of an apron, and might or might not be provided with a row of buttons down the front to simulate a vest.

It is to be understood that diierent forms of our preferred embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention, and that we do not intend to limit ourselves otherwise than specifically set forth in the claims which follow. For example, this garment may be worn with or without a shirt, and with either a plain or folded-type clerical collar.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isz- 1. A clerical garment adapted to be worn with a clerical collar having collar button holes, comprising a bosom portion, an inner upstanding neck portion adapted to be tucked up into said collar, and an outer upstanding neck portion having collar button holes registering with said first mentioned holes and adapted to encircle said collar on the outside thereof, and to be fastened thereto at the rear with the same collar button used with the collar.

2. In combination with a rabbi vest and a clerical collar and collar button, an upstanding collar portion attached to said vest and encircling said collar on the outside thereof and fastened to said collar at the rear by said collar button.

3. A clerical garment comprising a bosom portion, an inner upstanding portion adapted to partially encircle the neck of the wearer, an outer upstanding portion of a length sufficient to cornpletely encircle the neck of the wearer, and means to fasten the ends of said outer portion together.

4. A rabbi vest for wear with a clerical collar, having a pair of upstanding collar portions, at least the outer one of which is of a length sufficientl to encircle the neck of the wearer, said upstanding collar portions being closely spaced so as to pinch at least a portion of said collar between them.

5. A rabbi vest for wear with a clerical collar, having a pair of upstanding collar portions, at least the outer one of which is of a length suilicient to encircle the neck of the wearer, said upstanding collar portions being closely spaced so as to pinch at least a portion of said collar between them, and said outer portion being notched at the front to simulate the appearance of a clerical vest.

6. A rabbi vest for Wear with a folded type clerical collar, having a pair of upstanding collar portions, at least the outer one of which is of a length suicient to encircle the neck of the wearer on the outside of said collar, said upstanding collar portions being closely spaced so as to pinch at least one fold of said collar between them.

'7. A rabbi vest for wear with a plain or nonfold-ed type clerical collar, having a pair of upstanding collar portions, at least the outer one of which is of a length sucient to encircle the neck of the wearer on the outside of the collar, said upstanding collar portions being closely spaced so as to pinch said collar between them.

LAWRENCE DICKNIAN. GEORGE DICKMAN. 

